All the genes composing this signature were downregulated in ATC and upregulated in PTC and play probably a crucial role in the development of ATC: three of them are related to differentiation (DUOXA1, NELL2 and PCYOX1 which reduces H2O2 generation), two of them are putative tumor suppressors (SPINT2 and RPH3AL), two others are probably linked to epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) (MARVELD2, a novel tight junction protein and PKP4, thought to be involved in regulating junctional plaque organization and cadherin function), and TBX3 a transcriptional repressor. Here, RPH3AL is linked to neoplasm.